History of Dominican Friars in Memphis

Fr. Richard Pius Miles, O.P., became the first Bishop of the Diocese of Nashville on September 16, 1838. At that time, Nashville was the only diocese in the State of Tennessee, making this Dominican Friar the bishop of an entire state and Founding Father of the Catholic Church in Tennessee!

Fr. Michael McAleer, a diocesan priest, joined the Diocese of Nashville in 1840, and Bishop Miles sent him to Memphis to found the Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul.

In 1845, Fr. Joseph Alemany, O.P., a Dominican Friar from Spain, joined Fr. McAleer as Parochial Vicar of St. Peter and Paul. As such, the Dominican Friars have served Memphis since 1845!

Early in that same year, Bishop Miles offered St. Peter Parish to his own Dominican confreres of St. Joseph Province. He wrote to Joseph Jarboe, O.P., Prior at St. Rose:

I have now at the command of the Order the best congregation & church in the Diocese whenever they may see proper to take possession of it, provided it be done soon… It is on the Mississippi in one of the best towns of the state.. .. I think it will not require much argument to convince the superiors of the order that the offer I make will be more advantageous than others that may have been made… (Letter from Miles to Jarboe, Nashville, Jan. 17, 1845, St. Joseph Province archives).

Miles urged Jarboe not to delay in this matter, or he would seek another Order to take possession of the parish. In 1846, Fr. McAleer requested and received a transfer to the Diocese of New York. Fr. Alemany, Dominican, received the assistance of Fr. Thomas Grace, O.P. Together, they served the needs of five hundred Catholics (out of eight thousand citizens in Memphis).

With two friars in the parish and Fr. McAleer gone, the Order of Preachers accepted Bishop Miles’ offer, and the deed to St. Peter’s in Memphis was signed in 1847. The Dominican friars through the years realized Miles’ dream of a large city parish with the assurance of pastoral stability. The feelings of good fortune were mutual. Miles had the continuity he sought, and the friars assumed responsibility for St. Peter, a prosperous parish in a city with more Catholics than Nashville, the capital.

In 1847, Fr. Alemany left Memphis to become Novice Master of his Dominican Province. He later became the first bishop of California. Fr. James Hyacinth Clarkson, O.P., became pastor of St. Peter. Fr. Grace continued to serve as parochial vicar. The new Bishop Alemany, following in the tradition of Bishop Pius Miles, would take charge of the Catholic Church for the entire State of California, starting as the first Bishop of Monterey (which covered the entire state) and then becoming the first Archbishop of San Francisco. Fr. Alemany was integral in shaping the Church in California by bringing several Dominican Sisters groups, the Christian Brothers, and helping found the Dominican Province of the Holy Name (a.k.a., the Western Dominican Province of Friars).

The 1849 epidemics of cholera and smallpox were more devastating in Memphis than in Nashville. James H. Clarkson, Dominican pastor of St. Peter’s, ministered to the sick and dying. He himself became a victim of the disease in August of that year. Thomas Grace, O.P., succeeded him in pastoral duties.

In 1851, Fr. Grace received an answer to his request for Dominican sisters to come to Memphis. Six Dominican sisters from Kentucky and Ohio arrived in Memphis shortly after midnight on January 1, 1851. Fr. Grace had no idea they were coming so soon, let alone at the late hour. Unable to provide housing on such short notice, Fr. Grace kept the sisters up all night in conversation until he could find a place for them.

Srs. Ann Simpson, Lucy Harper and Vincentia Fitzpatrick came from St. Catharine’s, Kentucky. Srs. Magdalen Clark, Emily Thorpe and Catherine McCormick came from St. Mary’s in Somerset, Ohio. Upon arriving, they founded St. Agnes Academy. The writer of their annals indicated that the sisters had 300 dollars from which to deduct travel expenses: “In Louisville they purchased a few pieces of furniture and some school books which left them a balance of 50 dollars to meet all the expenses of opening and furnishing a new convent and boarding school” (Annals of St. Agnes Academy commencing with the Foundation of the House, ms., Jan. 10, 1851, 3).

To this day, the Dominican Friars of Memphis serve as chaplains to the all-girl St. Agnes Academy and its all-boy counterpart, St. Dominic School.

During this time, Memphis continued to grow. New families from many countries settled in the area around St. Peter, prompting the discussion of space. The church building could barely hold its current congregation, to say nothing of new growth!

In 1852 John Albert Bokel, O.P., a native of Germany, was called to Memphis to be “pastor of the German Catholics of this city and to care for their spiritual necessities” (John Albert Bokel, O.P., “A Record Book of the German Roman Catholic Parish in Memphis Tenn. A.D. 1852.”)

Fr. Bokel’s and Fr. Grace’s discussions with the faithful of Memphis prompted two major projects: the establishment of St. Mary Catholic Church, a predominantly German parish, and the construction of a new church building for St. Peter.

In 1855, shortly after the construction of the new St. Peter church building, a yellow fever epidemic struck Memphis. This epidemic cost the lives of several friars and sisters, including Fr. James Cleary, O.P.

Read more about the yellow fever epidemic and the “hero priests” of St. Peter here.

Despite the epidemic, Memphis and St. Peter saw growth and many changes. In 1858, three years after its completion, the new St. Peter church building was finally dedicated. One year later, Fr. Grace became the second Bishop of St. Paul, Minnesota, having served St. Peter for ten years.

Fr. Joseph Augustine Kelly, O.P., Provincial of the Dominican Province of St. Joseph, came to Memphis on a riverboat to visit St. Peter and the sisters at St. Agnes Academy. In his own words:

On awakening found myself at the Memphis bluff, it was so high that I looked in vain for the city. E Byrne came down to the boat, with him went up to the church. . . . The new church is really a magnificent affair, it is 150 feet long, 60 wide, transept eighty; it is plastered on the outside in imitation of stone. . . The location of St. Agnes Academy is perhaps the most beautiful in the city; the buildings are ordinary, chiefly frame. Memphis is rapidly improving.. . . The streets are unpaved which is a great drawback. Thousands of bales of cotton are to be seen in all directions (Kelly Diary, III, Jan. 22, 1859).

It seems to me that Memphis is, beyond a doubt the finest place the order possesses in this country, and presents the best opening for future success. Once I did not think so but I am convinced of it now from ocular demonstration Kelly (Diary, Feb. 5, 1859.)

On August 8, 1863, Fr. Kelly, became pastor of St. Peter in Memphis after his term as provincial ended. He would also serve two years as administrator of the Diocese of Nashville while the Holy Father sought a new bishop for the diocese. While not bishop in name, Fr. Kelly served the entire State of Tennessee with the care and devotion of a chief shepherd.

In 1861, ten years after the Dominican sisters founded St. Agnes Academy, the Catholic faithful of Memphis sought a religious order of men who could provide college education. It would take another decade of work, but the Dominican Friars of Memphis reached out to the The Brothers of the Christian Schools (a.k.a. The Christian Brothers), who founded Christian Brothers College on November 19, 1871, just down the street from the Friars on Adams avenue.

To this day, the Dominican Friars of Memphis still have strong ties to the Christian Brothers. Fr. Paul Watkins, O.P., serves as Tenured Associate Professor in the College of Business.

Through the end of the nineteenth and throughout the twentieth century, the Dominican Friars would serve the Christian Brothers Schools, St. Agnes Academy-St. Dominic School, and of course, St. Peter Catholic Church. This page <LINK TO STP HISTORY> tells more about the history of St. Peter to the present day.

In 1971, Pope Paul VI erected the Diocese of Memphis. With this new diocese, all the faithful of Memphis enjoyed a close relationship with their bishop and continued growth as a church in West Tennessee. The Dominican Friars would serve this new diocese in various capacities.

One of the greatest achievements of the Dominican Friars of Memphis in recent years was the transfer of the Shrine of St. Martin de Porres, Patron of the Southern Dominican Province, to Memphis. A new chapel was built on the grounds of St. Peter Parish and the chapel was dedicated September 15, 2001, becoming the St. Martin de Porres Shrine and Institute.

In March 2015, at the request of Fr. Paul Watkins, O.P., then-Rector of the shrine and institute, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops granted the designation “National Shrine.” Today, the St. Martin de Porres National Shrine and Institute serves as a sacred space for devotion to St. Martin, Patron Saint of Social Justice, a chapel for the daily celebration of the Sacraments and Liturgy of the Hours, and a center for education in the faith.

These are just a few examples of the many ways the Dominican Friars have served the City of Memphis over the past 174 years. To find out more about the Friars, contact us!

Excerpts arranged and adaptations written by Fr. Augustine DeArmond, O.P., and taken from from:

DOMINICANS AT HOME IN A YOUNG NATION, Vol. I, Ch. 9: FOUNDING THE CHURCH IN TENNESSEE, by Loretta Petit, Ph.D., Project OPUS.

DOMINICANS AT HOME IN A YOUNG NATION, Vol. I, Ch. 10: THE FRIARS AT MID-CENTURY, by Mary Joseph Ryan, Project OPUS.

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We are the Dominican Friars of Memphis, part of the worldwide Order of Preachers founded in 1216. We have continuously served Memphis since 1845. We are part of the Province of Saint Martin de Porres in the Order of Friars Preachers serving the Southern United States.

This vocations website is part of our community’s Holy Preaching – inspiring others via spoken and written word to answer God’s call to be a priest, brother or friar.